Students Participate in Cross-Cultural Trips

Pittsburgh Theological Seminary students, alums, administrators, and community members will explore mission opportunities abroad during the Seminary’s spring break.

Four students will travel with the Rev. Dr. Don Dawson, director of World Mission Initiative, to Southeast Asia to meet with church leaders of the United Presbyterian Church to learn about their ministry challenges. Traveling to the Mexico border are three others under the leadership of the Rev. John Welch ’02, vice president for student service and dean of students. Immigration issues and the underlying causes of migration will be a central focus during this immersion experience. A third group of five students will travel with Carrie Hanson ’08, to Haiti to join in service with the people there through CODEP (Comprehensive Development Project). A group of five will be visiting North Africa with the Rev. Jennifer Haddox ’06, associate director of World Mission Initiative, to witness and share in what God is doing among the indigenous and Arab peoples in several major cities. Heading to Brazil is a group of seven with Jose Pezini, Portuguese-language ministry coordinator for The Outreach Foundation of the Presbyterian Church Inc. They will be immersed in the church planting efforts of local churches of the Presbyterian Church in Brazil. Eight others are traveling to Germany under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. John Burgess, James Henry Snowden Professor of Systematic Theology at PTS. The group will learn from German pastors, theologians, and mission leaders about what it means to be the church in a post-Christian society. The Rev. Jeff Eddings ’08, pastor of Hot Metal Bridge Faith Community, will travel with six others to Scotland to learn about the church in a post-Christian context and visit the Northumbria Community. Ten students will join the Rev. Dr. Scott Sunquist, professor of world Christianity, in Malaysia where they will stay in seminary housing and have opportunities to fellowship with seminary students, attend various classes, and visit churches to learn about ministry in a Muslim context.

These trips are coordinated through the Seminary’s World Mission Initiative. WMI is a fellowship of Presbyterians dedicated to developing mission vision, nurturing missionary vocations, and cultivating missional congregations. WMI exists to help Christians understand how God is at work in the world and how they can share in that work.

Pittsburgh Theological Seminary is a graduate professional institution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A). Founded in 1794, the Seminary is located in Pittsburgh, Pa. and approximately 320 students are enrolled yearly in the degree programs. The Seminary prepares leaders who proclaim with great joy God’s message of good news in both word and deed. PTS is rooted in the Reformed history of faithfulness to Scripture and commitment to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.